The two leaders emerged from a half-day of private talks, both individually and with their respective teams, to sign an as yet undisclosed document that Trump said would "take care of a very big and very dangerous problem for the world".

"We were very proud of what took place today, I think our whole relationship with North Korea and the Korean Peninsula is going to be a very much different situation than it has been in the past," Trump said after the signing event at the Capella Singapore resort hotel.

(Read also: Kim-Trump summit commences with handshake)

Trump took the opportunity to thank the delegations from the two sides, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had gone through last-minute negotiations on Tuesday with his North Korean counterparts.

Before the signing ceremony, Kim said: "The world will see a major change. I would like to express my gratitude to President Trump for making this meeting happen."

Trump and Kim are in Singapore in the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The two leaders might conclude a deal on the denuclearization issue, months after they exchanged fiery retorts over North Korea's ballistic missile tests.

The US has sought the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, while Pyongyang is believed to be seeking security guarantees for its regime in return. (ebf)

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